1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording method using an aqueous ink comprising a water-insoluble coloring material, an ink cartridge therefore; and an image-forming method employing the ink.
2. Related Background Art
Inks containing a water-insoluble coloring material like a pigment as a coloring material (pigment inks) are known to give images having high fastness such as water resistance and lightfastness. Lately, various techniques have been disclosed for improving the density of the images formed by use of such inks.
For example, use of an ink which contains self-dispersion carbon black and a specific salt is disclosed for improvement of the image density (e.g., Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-198955). In another disclosure, an image of a high quality is formed by depositing an ink-jet recording ink composition containing a pigment, a fine particulate polymer, a water-soluble organic solvent, and water, and an aqueous polyvalent metal salt solution on a recording medium to induce reaction between the ink composition and the aqueous polyvalent metal salt solution (e.g., Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-63719). Such techniques enable formation of images of a high density by forcing the pigment dispersed in the ink to flocculate on the surface of the recording medium to retard permeation of the pigment into the recording medium.